Hostile neighbour regarding fencing

Ok, he's obviously a bit bonkers then. Does he have 'good' days anymore when you could discuss it?

You can download your neighbours deeds for £3.50 each. I probably wouldn’t ask them as so many people believe the “good side” stuff they might give you the wrong answers

He may well be suffering a decline in mental health but it's pointless ruminating over that now. Just put your own fence up on your side of the boundary up against his and leave him to it. If he tries to interfere with work being done on your own side of the boundary then you are going to have to report it. What is certain is the relationship you thought you had with him has clearly gone so don't spend any more time worrying about how he spoke to you or why. There's nothing you can do about that now.

Don't those fence panels just slot in the concrete pillars? You could try to slot it back in and use wooden wedges to hold them a bit tighter, they've come loose if they've fallen out like that. I'd at least lean them up on his side of the boundary so the panels aren't in your garden. And get your own fence on your side.

Don't take his behaviour personally; he's obviously got problems of some sort, either poor mental health or declining cognitive ability/dementia. He's probably no longer able to respond rationally and appropriately and it's nothing to do with you as neighbours, as he's the same to others in your community. It's a sad situation but no reflection on you.

We had a contractor out this evening for a quote to which our neighbour shouted at us and him that we are not to step foot on his property.

Did the neighbour look out and see the contractor already in his side of the garden? That can set people off if nobody has thought to knock and ask if someone can come into their space.

"Put something up on your side of the fence. You may lose use of a few inches of garden"

This. If you cement in 100mm posts it's recommended to have a hole 100mm on all sides of it so you would lose 4 inches of space ( 8 if you include the width of the fencepost )

No, you can put up your own fence in front of his if you want to (your fence would be within your boundary). Alternatively, you could try and talk him round, explain you're willing to pay for some or all of it. His reactions do suggest he's suffering from some sort of mental decline so I don't know how far you'll get with that.

My first owned house had a stone wall separating my garden from the garden next door. The wall, which belonged to them, was in a bad state of repair but they were unwilling to have it rebuilt so I had fencing put up on my side to hide it (and their overgrown garden.)

I would check with other neighbours which side they own - start with his neighbour the other side. You can go ahead and put up a fence on the boundary. I’d choose a contractor who will agree to do this from your side and not upset him any more than he is already.

Unfortunately if he has mental health decline, it’s not directed at you. Don’t take it personally

You don't actually have to speak to him to do something about the fence. You are entitled to enclose your garden, and the side of the fence panels isn't really a good indicator on who put it in or who it belongs to. It's fairly common for the fences not to be marked on the deeds, as I found out when my neighbour kicked off, and for home owners to be expected to negotiate it with neighbours.

Put something up on your side of the fence. You may lose use of a few inches of garden but he can't stop you from doing that, he can't claim you are damaging his property, you don't need to go onto his side to do it and he won't be entitled to a say in it. Personally I'd make that something an identical height closed fence, as he sounds potty enough to poison a hedge and you want the privacy, but you could go for a cheaper and easier option of a roll of mesh fencing and wooden posts. Going 3 months without securing your garden for your dog is bonkers.

I would put up a fence on your side of the boundary. He may be upset but you are entitled to maintain your own property. I had a similar problem but my elderly neighbour was just disinterested not angry. I did manage to contact her daughter who was fine with me replacing her mothers broken down fence

Good luck op.

We have a similar problem with a nightmare elderly neighbour next door. I think she too has mental health issues. I did feel very sorry for her (and still do really, altho there’s a lot of frustration there too).

Her fence came down this winter. Her garden is a JUNGLE of brambles and nettles (to the point the council came and gutted it a few years ago due to a colony of rats!). They have put a charge on her house for the costs. She is a horder. The house is falling into a state of disrepair. The garden once again looks as it did before. She owns the house outright after inheriting it.

She has a huge tree which has grown into the fence line pushing it over and into our garden. Two panels have also come down in the wind and are completely rotted and need replacing. So even if we wanted to replace the fence at our own expense we can’t without removing the tree (quoted £1.5-2k due to its size and how close it is to both houses). There’s no way we can afford that.

The council just aren’t interested, despite saying in 2020 that they were concerned- the fire service visited and said due to the hoarding it was a health and safety issue. The lady from the council who came to check on the garden work said they were going to get involved with partially clearing the house because of h and s (boxes stacked floor to ceiling so if there was a fire she’d be stuck and it would go up like kindling).

But nothing has happened since. I’ve tried chasing it up multiple times, also explaining that the garden situation is as it was when they got involved previously. I was passed pillar to post, nothing happened. Last person I spoke to said that ultimately it’s up to the individual how they live their life. I think they’ve just run out of money.

We’re completely stuck. The council have basically shrugged their shoulders and said there’s nothing anyone can do.

As a temporary measure could you block it off with some pallets? That is what we have had to do. It looks awful but stops our dog wandering into her jungle.

Not necessarily

It's not true that if you have the posts it's your fence. I have 2 good sides and we share costs with the neighbour as the deeds don't show that a particular side is responsible for the upkeep.

You could put your own up just in front of the old one. Or try and speak to him about next steps

You could put your own fence up on your property and leave his fence in place but it would be better if you could reason with him. Maybe he would be happy if you offered to pay to replace the fence if you ask his permission

The “good side” and “left side are myths

my deeds also don’t have T marks, seems quite a common error. You could get his deeds and see if they’re marked on his, but if your house is wrong they might all be

Basically it’ll come down to whoever wants to pay for it. I would just do it because he sounds so unstable anyway, as long as you’re not asking him for money he’ll just have to suck it up

You can put your own fence up, but it has to be inside the boundary

Looking at the state of his garden, and the way he is interacting/behaving, I would say the poor chap has MH issues. I would also suggest your deeds will indicate which boundary is yours, and which is your neighbours. If it’s fenced like this all the way down, no hedges, no plants, then it might be possible for a fencer to do all the work from your side, with little need to be on his turf, so to speak. All depends what sort of fencing you put in.

I think the T on the boundary line is not true for all properties. There are no such marking on my deed for example.

Similarly, the convention about the good side facing neighbours is just that. My neighbours replaced the fence on one side and the good side faces their garden, which is fair enough as they paid for it.

I replaced the other side as it needed doing and the good side faces my garden

Unless you know who paid for the original fence you might have to build your own next to the original one.